Fifty years ago the National Guard was escorting black students past screaming white mobs to integrate schools in America's southern states. Yesterday a black man became the next United States president.
Barak Obama has a huge weight on his shoulders. He has been given the trust of blacks, whites and Hispanics and he has the job before him of pulling America out of the deepest financial hole since 1933.
Besides the financial meltdown, there is the question of what to do about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - and what role the US military should take in future world trouble spots.
Whatever decisions Obama takes will be criticised by many. There is still a strong undercurrent of racism and many would delight in pointing the finger if the first black American president stumbles.
In his favour, he looks likely to reverse the scepticism felt abroad about the policies of his predecessor. He is making a fresh start - and to many world leaders it will be a case of America starting again with a blank policy paper on the Dias.
The weeks ahead will be critical - even before he is sworn into his new job on January twenty-one. The task of selecting the men and women who will have the awesome task of putting his policies into practice will be make or break to success.
Obama is a younger man with fire in his belly. He has the chance to be one of the greatest president's the United States has produced.
He needs resolve of steel - the right people around him - and a huge amount of luck !
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